Safe Haven by NikkiSue

1. Chapter 1- Taking the Bait by NikkiSue [ - ] (1371 words)
Before I forget, I want to send a HUGE thank you to my favorite grammar goddess and beta, Rita! You rock my literary world, even though you are more than half my age... And, as they all say, everything but the plot belongs to JKR. If she chooses to share her wealth, however, she can find me at the beta boards.
2. Chapter 2 by NikkiSue [ - ] (1238 words)
This took me a bit longer due to technical difficulties but here it is, Chapter 2! Thank you muchly to Rita, the beta of everyone's dreams for shaking me til I got it right. (kidding.) The next chapter is already written, I just need to submit the bugger. I hope this one is enjoyable enough to hold you over until then. I should add this story is *not* HBP compliant.
3. Chapter 3 - An Adjustment by NikkiSue [ - ] (1386 words)
I am sooo sorry that this took so long to update! I submitted it and did not realize I needed to label it with with an "Alternative Unvierse" warning so here it is in all it's glory with its improved warning in place. My beta goddess, Rita Writer saved my hide once again so thank you to her as well as my cousin, Loralie who gave imput as well. Also, don't be afraid to comment, it's good for the soul!
4. Chapter 4 - A Bit Awkward by NikkiSue [ - ] (1821 words)
I'm chuck out of creative author's notes at the moment... Thank you to my furiously quick beta, Rita Writer for getting this back to me. I remain in awe.Also, there will be some OOC scenes from here on out. Please remember the AU warning. Feel free to review as well as PM me on the beta boards with any questions as well.
5. Chapter 5 - You Have My Attention by NikkiSue [ - ] (1645 words)
Let's try this again, shall we? I apologize for the length of time bewteen chapters. The waiting line at the queue rivals the wait to get into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and I also rewrote part of it to keep Draco more in canon. I want to extend a special thank you to Abbi for helping me by being my beta this time around. Thanks for your insight, dearie. As always, this all belongs to JKR. Maybe I'll be a rich billionnaire in my next life...
6. Chapter 6 - Go Take A Walk, Hermione . . . NOW. by NikkiSue [ - ] (1534 words)
I'm sorry this took so long to update and I promise not to become one of those authors who update every 9 months! (I have since added 3 other stories though, so my time was not wasted.) I owe my sanity to my beta, Rita Writer who has manned this (except for 1 chap.) since the beginning. Thanks for your patience and without further ado, here it is.
7. Chapter 7 - Building Bridges by NikkiSue [ - ] (1950 words)
This chapter never would have seen the light of day without the help of my fantastic beta, Rita Writer and my patient cousin, Loralie. We dissected a piece of this chapter for over an hour via a very long IM... This chapter is where things begin to get both interesting and sticky. I hope you enjoy it. (Updates shouldn't take long as I have written up to Ch. 21.)
8. Chapter 8 - Finishing Touches by NikkiSue [ - ] (1885 words)
I looked at my story here that I had typed so far and then cringed when I saw the *two notebooks* which still need to be typed out and thought to myself, "I think this could become the world's longest fanfic!" Many thanks to the greatest long term beta in the known free world, RitaWriter. (Eliza you are very much appreciated.)
9. Chapter 9 - Organized Chaos by NikkiSue [ - ] (2050 words)
I would like to thank my beta Rita Writer for not only pulling me out of the capitalization hell I was in but also for sticking it out through this entire story! The characters are JKR's but the plot is all mine - muHAHAHAHAHAHA.
10. Chapter 10 - You're Not Alone by NikkiSue [ - ] (1620 words)
I'm not beating around the bush... This is my favorite chapter. I had a lot of fun writing it and I hope my loyal and faithful readers (you!) enjoy reading it as well.Thank you to Rita Writer, the world's greatest long term beta as well as babekitty_92 for helping look over this one. Thanks to my mentor, Keryn for her assistance with wording too! I promised MsRowling that I would only take the characters out to play for a bit so I should return them after you read this.
11. Chapter 11 - Getting Reaquainted by NikkiSue [ - ] (1459 words)
Not a whole lot to say here, really... I would like to pledge my undying love and gratefulness to my fantabulous beta, Rita Writer. I would also like to thank my friends in the Slytherin CR for their support. All characters belong to the amazing JKR. I'm just taking them out to play for a while.
12. Chapter 12 - Can We Talk? by NikkiSue [ - ] (2041 words)
In all fairness, I *tried* to update this a couple of weeks ago but it was rejected. I have fixed what they said needed to be fixed and, if all goes well, I will receive a conirmation e-mail instead of one of those that make poor desperate authors cry... Thanks to my beta Rita Writer for her insight and my readers for their patience.
13. Chapter 13 - Twitterpated by NikkiSue [ - ] (1709 words)
Thank you for your patience... People who read this chapter will either like it or hate it and that makes me a bit nervous about any upcoming reviews. :-) That being said, please be gentle. Also a big thank you to Rita Writer for being the bestest long term beta in the free world.
14. Chapter 14 - Busted! by NikkiSue [ - ] (1960 words)
*Is trying to update quicker*
Muchas Gracias to my tried and true beta, Rita Writer. (and happy belated 16th my dear!) This isn't the longest or most thought provoking chapter but it was fun regardless. I may edit the latter conversation between Draco/Hr/Ron but I just don't have the means to reword it at the moment. I apologize if the scene is awkward because of it.
15. Chapter 15 - Just Act Normal . . . by NikkiSue [ - ] (1907 words)
This is a lighter chapter than others. The gang gets their supply letters for Diagon Alley and have an eventful beginning to their day. The trip is split into two chapters. Also, now that my saved (already typed and ready to be beta'd) chapters have been moved to this computer, I can update more frequently! Thanks for your patience during my eight month hiatus from posting updates. My inbox is empthy in case the howlers start coming . . .
16. Chapter 16 - Confessions and Legillimens by NikkiSue [ - ] (1522 words)
Holy bananas. I apologize for this dry spell I have been experiencing as far as writing ANYTHING. I hope to remedy this. This chapter has our gang of misfits revealing secrets and tampering with Harry's mind. It's been rewritten sveral times. Hopefully the final draft will suffice.
17. Chapter 17 - Through Draco's Eyes by NikkiSue [ - ] (1839 words)
A million thank you's to my newest beta Alyssa, She was a fresh set of eyes and it gave me insight that I would not have neccesarily seen otherwise. I did tweak a bit towards the end (post-beta) so hopefully I didn't botch things too much.-) This chapter has a little Occlumency and a nice moment between Draco and Hermione brought on by some not so nice news.
18. Chapter 18 - Shady Secrets and Yummy Desserts by NikkiSue [ - ] (1371 words)
Alyssa (ron lover) has saved my story with her MAD beta skills so yay for her!

In this chapter we will be spending a bit of time with a different Slytherin - the nasty kind in the form of Pansy Parkinson. A cameo by You Know Who as well as big daddy Lucius and we shall conclude in the Great Hall with the good guys.
19. Chapter 19 - Fancy a Walk? by NikkiSue [ - ] (1378 words)
I had apparently forgot what it was like to keep readers up to date with new chapters. I will try (again) to remedy that. Sorry everyone. This one is (literally) all over the place but it brings in various characters in the process. The gang picks up their supplies and tries to survive their first day back at Hogwarts with their classmates among them. Now where will allegiances lie?
20. Chapter 20 - Awkward Explanations by NikkiSue [ - ] (1307 words)
They knew their first night at Hogwarts with their classmates would not be easy but no one was expecting injuries. Things are starting to unfold and get messy . . . A huge thank you to Alyssa for a super quick beta job.
21. Chapter 21 - Calm, Cool and Collected by NikkiSue [ - ] (2046 words)
I'm getting a little better at this updating thing.

This chapter shows the first day of school in full swing. No romance in this one (sorry), but we get to see a little Pansy and Hermione chat and Draco giving Ron an ultimatum of sorts. Enjoy!

The characters and use of the Harry Potter world as a whole is borrowed temporarily from the genius that is JK Rowling.